Cellar Craft Ready to start this Malbec, question about D254 yeast

[geek]

The yeast that comes with this kit is EC-1118.
I bought 8gr of ICV-D254 to use instead.

Would you just sprinkle on top and no stir or would you use remove a bit of juice and then hydrate the yeast in it to stir?
Would you use any yeast nutrient at all either when you initially add the bentonite to the warm water and stir?

I am not trying to deviate much from the instructions, just doing the yeast substitution and wanted to make sure which way is better or if it doesn't matter.
All I have is normal yeast nutrient, no go-ferm at hand.

Not trying to make it complicated and maybe i'd just sprinkle on top?
.
Thanks for the quick replies.

 

[Boatboy24]

Hydrate it just to be sure you have a viable start. There should be enough nutrient in the must now, but add when you're about 1/3 of the way through. Or if you start to notice any off odors.

I usually just hydrate in warm water, then add must after a few minutes. A teaspoon or so at a time until the temp is close to that in the fermenter.

 

[sour_grapes]

I rehydrated my yeast, and followed MoreWine's instructions pretty closely. Basically, this means that I:

-put half a cup of water in a coffee cup
-microwaved it for about 45 sec.
-measured temperature to be ~110 F
-add 3.5 grams* of Nutriferm Energy (similar to GoFerm); stir. (I used thermometer to stir.)
-wait until the temperature falls to 104 F
-sprinkle yeast on top; stir gently.
-wait 12 minutes.
-add 1/4 cup of must to coffee cup, stir.
-make sure that T<92 F
-wait ~5 minutes (Will be able to see yeast activity during this time.)
-stir yeast into the must.


*If you don't have scale, you can eyeball this amount by looking at your yeast packet. If you have a 6 or 8 gram package of yeast, you can eyeball about half that much of the GoFerm/Nutriferm Energy.

 

[geek]

I don't have goferm, all I found in my arsenal is "Yeast Nutrient" that I use for Dragon Blood making.

Wondering if I can use that or just forget about it and hydrate the yeast alone in warm water?

 

[ibglowin]

No, do not use that. That is yeast "crack". Just rehydrate in warm water (100F) for 10 min. You will see activity in that time, foaming, yeast actually rising and falling. When you see that add an ounce of must, wait 5 min, swirl into the must.

Remember that this is not EC1118. D254 is not as vigorous a fermentor. You will have to stay on top of temps etc.

 

[sour_grapes]

Well, you could follow Jamesngalveston's protocol and use Grape Nuts:

One alternate to yeast energizer is grape nuts...
Mix 1/2 cup grape nuts with 1/2 cup water and nuke for about 1 minute. cool and add to must...It really works well, it will add some umph to a ferment.
Another thing is start using SuperFerment ....It is yeast nutrient/energizer all in one...and works very well.

I must say that I do not know for sure. I am biased to believe that you will be okay no matter what -- rehydrate without energizer, rehydrate with Grape Nuts stuff, or pitch it dry -- you will probably be okay. I would make sure you add the yeast nutrient at the preferred schedule, but you are used to that from DB, I think.

Only thing I would be careful of: If your nutrient is high in DAP, then I would NOT use it as an energizer when rehydrating the yeast. This article says that DAP in high concentrations can kill yeast.

 

[geek]

Thanks guys.
After completing bucket to 6gal mark I noticed that the initial SG is ~1.080.
I found it to me a bit low, I made a lower end WE kit last year and it started at 1.090.

Is this normal for this Argentina Malbec? The instructions do not state any range of SG at all.

 

[geek]

Correction: with the rush up/down to the basement and all that I had measured the SG before putting the grape skins.

So, the SG would he higher with the grape skins; even though I squeezed the bag a bit and measured SG again and it was still ~1.080 but oak dust/chips are in the must (decided not to put oak dust in strainer bag this time...) and hydrometer reading may not be as accurate.

 

[sour_grapes]

Yeah, the sugars need some time to come out of the grape pack. For my Showcase Red Mountain Cab, for example, the SG before adding grape pack was 1.080. 15 minutes after adding grape pack, it was 1.086. 24 hours later, it was 1.098.

 

[geek]

This time I added the oak dust directly to the must, not the bag, I know this would be a bit problem when racking but wanted to have the most surface contact, let's see how this goes......

 

[Pumpkinman]

I must say that I do not know for sure. I am biased to believe that you will be okay no matter what -- rehydrate without energizer

Paul, most times you will be ok, but fermentation is one of the most important parts of making wine, a healthy fermentation is more important than a lot of wine makers think, just look at what starts at this phase of the wine making process.
The quick answer is

Fermentation is a metabolic process in which an organism converts a carbohydrate, such as starch or a sugar, into an alcohol or an acid. For example, yeast perform fermentation to obtain energy by converting sugar into alcohol.

During fermentation various characteristics develop, depending on the yeast strain, different sensory effects/profiles, which include body and mouthfeel, Alcohol tolerances just to name a few, all of this depends on how the yeast can perform.

When yeast is dry, it is dormant, we hydrate yeast in order to not only wake it up, but to give it a chance to reproduce and create a large quantity of cells, the larger and healthier the yeast "population" is the more efficient it will be once pitched, where is will continue to grow.

Adding a hydration nutrient such as Go-ferm provides the high levels of certain essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids required for healthy yeast fermentations which can result in a much better overall health of yeast cells through-out the fermentation, which in turn affects fermentation productivity and resulting in a cleaner aromatic profile.

In other words, by hydrating yeast properly, and using a Hydration nutrient such as Go-Ferm, the yeast will have the proper nutrients to grow and reproduce before you pitch it, which will make for a better acclimated yeast that will ferment much more efficiently resulting in a better fermentation and wine.
I always keep Fermaid K and Fermaid O in hand, yeast nutrients are just as important, but never add a yeast nutrient to the hydrated yeast, especially one containing DAP.
I add my yeast nutrient split into 2 or 3 additions, Fermaid O as my first addition, it is an organic source of nitrogen that is less likely to shock the yeast, I follow that up with Fermaid K at least one more, possible two applications.

Tom

 

[geek]

Fermentation started fine yesterday and is at full steam now.

 

[sour_grapes]

Fermentation started fine yesterday and is at full steam now.

What did you wind up doing regarding yeast rehydration?

 

[geek]

Used warm water and (unfortunately) had used a little bit (like a 1 teaspoon) of yeast nutrient before I got all these good feedback...by the time I saw the posts the yeast nutrient was in...

To the warm water I pitched the yeast and stirred, then let it sit for a few minutes and then put a little bit of the kit juice and stirred.

Finally pitched this to the fermenter. LOTS of foam on this one and seems to be going really good.
I put the fermenter on a chair in front of my pellet stove in the basement and also placed a brew belt to keep it warm because I keep the temp in the basement to ~68F.

 

[geek]

Is ir normal for D254 to create so MUCH foam??
Sounds like a shower with the noise.
The center is the skins bag floating.

Wow, it is vigorous fermenting..!!

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm getting some foam in the Tempranillo Garnacha I have going now. Don't recall having a ton of it in the past though. Is that a 6 gal fermenter? Looks like zero headspace.

 

[geek]

Yes 6 gallon bucket.

 

[sour_grapes]

My foam (with D254 in a Syrah) was nowhere near as much as that.

 

[geek]

How about the smell, kids say it smells like fart in the basement....the odor is medium to maybe high...

 

[Boatboy24]

Temp? You definitely need a larger fermenter. You can't ferment a 6 gallon kit with grape pack in a 6 gallon bucket. The volume alone will take up 24-25 liters. Then, you have to account for foaming, bubbles and stirring room.

PS: it shouldn't smell like farts. ;-)